Shomit Mukherjee’s Soccer Blog

Youth soccer players need to make a conscious effort to understand their surroundings on a soccer field as they continue playing. Coaches should reinforce the concept of time and space on the practice field on an almost daily basis at all ages of youth soccer. There are several characteristics to look for in individual players who have a difficult time identifying how much time and space is available to them. It is up to the soccer coach to identify the mistake to the player and the player has to take part of the job by trying to correct the mistake the next time he/she is presented with a similar situation. All young players reading this should try to avoid the following mistakes that are often made when incorrectly identifying how much time and space you actually have:

1. The “hot potato” play: A team has just combined one, two, and three passes and the fourth pass comes to an open player…..the player has a lot of time and space but is unaware of it and plays the ball “one touch” and it becomes a turnover.

What’s the better play? Since the player had time and space, there was likely no need to play the ball one-touch. He/she should have probably taken a touch, looked up, and evaluated what else there was to do with the time and space that was available (another pass, shot, etc). If for some reason the player feels that they SHOULD HAVE played the ball one-touch with all of the time and space that they had, you can emphasize that their technique in striking the ball was rushed and may have caused the turnover. Situations are rare when a player should play a ball with one touch if they have plenty of time and space.

2. Playing out of pressure in TIGHT spaces requires LESS touches: Coaches and players alike get frustrated by it sometimes but it is important to keep an even keel when it happens. A player has a few turnovers where it seems as though they are dribbling too much. The idea to take players on with the dribble is great and should be encouraged. However, it is important to know WHEN AND WHERE to do it. If a player is surrounded by multiple defenders, it is often wise to pass the ball out of the pressure quickly (i.e, with less touches) to find an area of the field that is not occupied by multiple defenders.

The moral of the story is: Be aware of your surroundings on the soccer field. What’s the fastest and easiest way to get better at that? Use your eyes to help identify ALL of the spaces around you ALL of the time. Do you have space in front of you? behind? to the left? to the right?

The spaces around you are changing every second. Can you see how it is changing?

For U9 players, space may still be a bit of an abstract concept but it is great to plant the ideas of “time and space“ when having conversations with the young soccer players. For older players, it is important to not only identify the time and space that surrounds you, but to also take advantage of it and use it the best way that you can on a regular basis. Players will watch their overall game improve tremendously as they continue to get better at seeing the time and space that is available to them.